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The Myth of the 30-Minute MealGordon Ramsay says he can make you a more efficient cook. Don't believe him.

By Laura ShapiroPosted Wednesday, April 23, 2008, at 7:13 AM ET

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Sara Dickerman argued that Gordon Ramsay could save food TV and asked why the food press rarely talks about dollars and cents. Jill Hunter Pellettieri tried preparing Rachael Ray's 30-minute meals in 30 minutes.

Fantasy has always played a big part in beat-the-clock cookbooks; in fact, the category relies on it, as Ramsay's book makes clear. Despite the shopping lists, the step-by-step directions, the time-saving tips, and the authors who insist that this is exactly how they cook at home, there's little that reflects the real world in such books. Like those gigantic, glossy tomes with titles like My Kitchen in the Wine Country or Tuscany at Table, the quick-cook books are wish books. They're cheaper, friendlier, and far more portable than their $75 siblings, but they're wish books all the same. Open a quick-cook book and you're transported—not to some Provencal dreamscape but to your own kitchen. Why, that's you at the counter, cheerfully putting together a charming meal for the family while your children set the table. You can practically see them storing up those all-important food memories that will accompany them through life like a St. Christopher medal.

If you're an ordinary, sometimes bumbling home cook, it's hard to resist a book that promises to impose factorylike precision on a chore that is by nature messy and unpredictable. Hence the popularity of stopwatch cuisine, which used to be known as "practical" or "simple" cookery and is now designated by sheer speed: The 60-Minute Gourmet, 30-Minute Meals, 29-Minute Meals, 20-Minute Menus, Fresh 15-Minute Meals, 10-Minute Cuisine, Rocco's 5-Minute Flavor, The Last-Minute Cookbook. How do they do it? Look a little more closely at the advice they're offering. Mary Ann Esposito, author of Ciao Italia Pronto! 30-Minute Recipes From an Italian Kitchen, notes that she cleans four or five days' worth of lettuce at once, makes two lasagnas at a time and freezes one, and fixes tomorrow's vegetables while she's preparing today's. Pierre Franey, who launched the "60-Minute Gourmet" column in the New York Times in 1976, says it's awfully helpful to do a few things the night before, including mince the garlic, chop the onions, chop the parsley, clean and cube the potatoes, peel the carrots, core the peppers, set the table, uncork the wine, and put the cream in a pitcher. "Five minutes means 5 minutes," declares Rocco DiSpirito in Rocco's 5 Minute Flavor, adding, "Prep time is not included in the 5 minutes, but I was careful to choose ingredients that require virtually no preparation." True—he uses plenty of cans and jars—but what about the three red onions to be cut into rings exactly 1/5 an inch thick? Rummage around too long for a ruler, and you're already 90 seconds into the recipe with nothing to show for it.

Take note: Cookbook writers are different from you and me, even the ones who look oh so domestic on their book covers. They're professionals, which means they're in the habit of working efficiently. Speed is part of their batterie de cuisine, just like sharp knives. And while they're constantly telling you the best way to chop an onion, or why you should always keep canned tomatoes around, the ones who write 15-minute recipes are never going to tell you the single most crucial thing about quick cooking, which is that 15-minute recipes are irrelevant. The only really useful shortcut in the kitchen is knowing how to cook. The others you'll invent while you're cooking.